A question to ponder over the coming year

Back in October when Don Brash reminded punters that Heather Simpson's validating legislation meant there was now "no legal obligation on anybody to pay back anything," The Popular and Competent Leaderene responded: "You have to take parties at their word and [when] they say they will refund that becomes a matter of honour."

Honour? Honour? From politicians? As I said back then, the irony really is palpable. Time for that old, old joke:

Q: How do you know when a politician's lying?A: Their lips are moving.

More seriously, and as Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis once reflected, "Our government ... teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."

They'll pay it back when they need to win votes. By then the MP's will have had successive pay rises to compensate for their contribution.

Meanwhile, they haven't even made a part payment, even though they asked members to cough up extra money expressly for this purpose. The way they asked for the money was unethical (pay us or the Exclusive Brethren will be setting policy was the message on the begging form)

That they haven't yet passed on that extra money is also unethical and hopefully the voters will begin to twig that they've been taken for yet another ride.